BOSTON – Sam Cassell is known as a player who will cut out the heart of an opponent with his cold-blooded play in crucial situations.

Boy, are the Clippers glad he’s on their side now.

Cassell’s play during a tense three-minute segment late in the fourth quarter Friday night was the driving force that freed the Clippers from a tight struggle and on to a 98-81 victory over the Boston Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden.

With the Clippers clinging to a 79-78 lead, Elton Brand gave them breathing space with a short jumper.

Then Cassell took over.

On two consecutive possessions he made three-point baskets when Brand passed the ball to him out of a double-team. Brand scored two more baskets during what amounted to a 12-0 burst, and after a three-point play by Boston’s Paul Pierce, first-year Clipper Cassell stuck the dagger in with another three-pointer.

It was performances such as this that Cassell used to foil the Clippers during his previous NBA stops the first 12 years of his career.

“I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do. I don’t make a big deal out of it,” said Cassell, who scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter. “Since I was a rookie, I was groomed into making shots down the stretch.

“I don’t mind taking big shots because I don’t mind being the goat.”

He certainly was the catalyst, along with Brand, in guiding the Clippers to their second victory in a row, improving their road mark to 11-10 and their overall record to 27-17. It marks the first time since the 1991-92 season that the Clippers have been 10 games above .500. That team was 45-35 through 80 games that season and finished with the only winning record in Clippers history, at 45-37.

Brand scored a game-high 30 points, and has at least 30 points in all three games on this six-game trip. Cuttino Mobley added 18 points. The Clippers shot 54.2 percent from the field, the fifth consecutive game they have made better than 53 percent of their field-goal tries. They held Boston to a 35.4 field-goal percentage, the fourth time in the past five games an opponent has shot less than 40 percent.

“That’s what we’re here for,” said Mobley, another offseason acquisition. “Whether it’s me defensively, E.B. or Sam with a big shot. Sam and I have been in the playoffs, and we just want E.B. and the rest of those guys to get in that situation. We’re going to help as much as possible.”

Pierce finished with 18 points but was 5 of 15 from the field, partly because he was harried by the Clippers’ Quinton Ross.

“Pierce is a great player, a great talent,” Ross said. “All you can do is contest all the shots he takes and hope he has an off night.”

Boston handed the Clippers one of their worst losses this season at Staples Center on New Year’s Eve, and the Celtics were at their scrappy best in the first half when they clobbered the Clippers on the offensive boards, snaring 13 to the Clippers’ zero.

Center Chris Kaman had a difficult time boxing out Boston center Kendrick Perkins, who had six offensive rebounds and eight total in the first quarter.

“He works hard. He has long arms, and he’s aggressive,” Kaman said.

Michael Olowokandi, a former Clipper recently acquired from Minnesota, scored 10 points and was in the middle of Boston’s fourth-quarter surge.

EWING MIFFED

Dunleavy said he had spoken in the past two days with rookie guard Daniel Ewing, who was confused and disappointed to find he had fallen out of the playing rotation.

Ewing had been one of the first reserves off the bench until the current trip. He did not play at all against Miami or Orlando.

“It’s just been because of (opponent) matchups,” Dunleavy said. “I’ve given minutes to James (Singleton), to play against bigger guys.”

Ewing was on the court to start the fourth quarter Friday, played 12 minutes, and scored six points.

REBRACA UPDATE

Backup center Zeljko Rebraca ruled out returning to action on this trip.

Rebraca was advised by the medical staff that performed his heart surgery on Nov. 30 to not play in a game for at least 2-3 weeks. That advice was issued as a precaution, after Rebraca complained of shortness of breath and tightness in his chest before a Jan. 25 against New Jersey.

“Everything is going well, but I need to get my conditioning back to build my confidence,” Rebraca said.

Smith is in his eighth season as a Clippers broadcaster, but he has had his sights set on moving over to the basketball player personnel side for several years and it is possible that something might open up for him with the Celtics in the next year.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.